Dear You: Halloween Edition

Welcome back to Dear You, an advice column with a twist: instead of a newsletter giving advice to you, you give advice to the newsletter. An advice column with advice from different people with different backgrounds- it might just help you see the problem from a new lens- and you might just be able to solve it more easily.

With Halloween coming up, everyone in Pleasanton has a lot to do. I know I always look forward to this festive night- yet I always have a bit of trouble figuring things out. What should I be for Halloween? If I’m too old to trick or treat, what cool things can I do on Halloween night? What kind of candy should I buy for trick or treaters who come to my house? Which Halloween decorations are the best decorations?

But this October, you should be fearing ghosts and ghouls and zombies and clowns- not fearing organization and ideas.

So here’s some advice to get you started:

“Spend time with friends and eat lots of candy” -Austin Hwang

“You should throw a spooky Halloween party with some friends! You’re guaranteed some good spooks and fun times” -Pranav Veerubhotla

“Dorothy from Wizard of Oz… that’s the classic. It’s a perfect costume for a girl, in my opinion. Hershey’s is the classic candy, obviously. That and Reese’s. For movies I would say The Conjuring, Nightmare on Elm Street, or Insidious- those are perfect scary movies. I spend my Halloween handing out candy to young trick or treaters, since I’m a college student.” -Kiara Lanza

“Mona Lisa. Why not? You are also booty-ful. Probably Hocus Pocus or It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Kit Kats! All of the decorations, like spiderwebs and skeletons and signs that say ‘Do not enter.’ No one is too old to trick or treat.” -Natasha Mihelcic

“Dress up as Donnel and wear a pot” -Anonymous

“I would say do things with your friends Halloween is always more fun as a group and doing group costumes is great” -Natalie Meehan

“You put on a costume. You grab your friends who are also in costume. You hang out together. You go to a graveyard. You perform a ritual to summon a ghost. You accidentally summon the ghost of your ex’s grandma. Your ex’s grandma curses you out so you can’t play Fortnite anymore. You go home and finish your AP homework and cry, or you go trick or treating with friends.” -Melanie Woo

“Have a fun time with your friends whether it be a party, trick or treating, or haunted house” -Arpitha Krishnakumar

“Get some friends, some episodes of Black Mirror, and some candy, or be extra and DIY those Pinterest-esque Halloween treats and decorations to have a fun Halloween party” -Ria

“Spend time with your friends and remember that your night isn’t over if it doesn’t go as planned.” -Jacob Zaionz

“First, gather as much candy as you can – my favorites are Twix, Kit-Kat, and Sour Patch. After that, get together with some friends and find a couple of great horror movies and thrillers which you can go on a spree watching them. Other helpful suggestions for the aesthetic include decorations and some creative costumes if you’re going out.” -Mihir Weling

“Hanging out with friends while playing video games” -Timothy Ding

“A Halloween where everyone dresses up for one thing, but at the same time don’t let it become cringey. And also have candy and cool games, make sure however that everyone is respected and isn’t choking on snickers or something. Have everyone watch a scary movie…it would be fun to see a bunch of people … getting through it together” -Robert Gan

“Pick a group of your extremely weird best friends and go anywhere you’d like. Halloween is so much more fun if you spend it with your weird amigos.” -Sudheendra Gamoji

“I would have a bunch of people over to my house (or go to someone else’s house). It wouldn’t be like a huge party or anything but we’d have food and lots of candy and play games like spikeball or ping-pong and stuff or swim until it got dark, then just watch like horror movies and play stupid Never Have I Ever games until very late.” -Michael Dean

“Actually wear a costume. Your life will be so much happier if you do.” -Amritha Ramalingam

“Definitely go out with your friends. Do a costume if you want, but make it yourself. It’s not about the quality, although that never hurts, it’s about the idea. Have a fun time. Go trick or treating if you want, but don’t get separated because that’s always a mess. Maybe play some party games, make them spooky if you want.” -Brian Fu

“So for me, my ideal Halloween starts with the costume. It has to be something that is exciting and unique, so it has to show that you spent time thinking about it or making it, but also recognizable, because nothing ruins a party faster than a costume that you have to explain. Furthermore, the candy is essential for distinguishing your house as the ‘cool house on the block’ for years afterwards: if you can, the large size candies are the absolute best for kids to enjoy, but any medium sized ones work as well. For brands, stick to the main chocolate brands, especially Kit-Kats, because everyone loves them. Other candies that are nice are pop rocks. Never hand out anything else other than candies, like little toys, because you want a large bag at the end of the night so you can ration out the candy for the remainder of the year and well into next year. I try to stick to only candies and cool costumes, but one nice activity that I thought was interesting was a haunted house that started in the backyard and ended up inside the house with candy. Above all, remember to participate, whether as the trick-o-treater or as a candy dispenser because everyone gets bummed out by a house that has its lights all off! “ -Seyong Chang

“The advice I would give someone to have a super lit Halloween is to watch movies and eat food.” -David Azuma

With these ideas in mind, I wish you the best Halloween you can have. Thanks for reading. Until the next question, Happy Halloweening!